Liquid fuel burning apparatus



Oct. 27, 1964 w, LEACH T 3,154,131

LIQUID FUEL BURNING APPARATUS Filed April 2, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet l Oct.27, 1964 H. w. LEACH ETAL LIQUID FUEL BURNING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed April 2, 1962 m m m 2 \I a w E Um Q o AAA/ f) 4/5 :Elrzt UnitedStates Patent 3,154,131 LIQUID FUEL BURNING APPARATUS Harold WilliamLeach, Solihull, and David George Ernest Wilkes, Castle Bromwich, nearBirmingham, England,

assignors to Joseph Lucas (Industries) Limited, Birmingham, EnglandFiled Apr. 2, 1962, Ser. No. 184,191 4 Claims. (Cl. 158-15) Thisinvention relates to liquid fuel burning apparatus of the kindcomprising a cylindrical casing adapted at its inner end for attachmentto a furnace, steam generating plant, or the like, an air chestsurrounding the casing and having an outer wall which is spaced from theouter end of the casing to define an air inlet therebetween, a burnertube extending through said outer wall, said burner tube being movableaxially between operative and inoperative positions, and means forcontrolling the admission of air through said inlet.

The object of the present invention is to provide such apparatus in aconvenient form.

According to the invention the means for controlling the admission ofair through said inlet comprises in combination an annular discsurrounding and movable axially on a relatively fixed tube through whichthe burner tube extends, an annular ring closely surrounding theperiphery of the disc and permitted limited axial movement relativethereto, said ring being adapted to seat against the outer end of thecasing, and means for moving the ring in an axial direction between thecasing and the outer wall of the air chest, the arrangement being suchthat the initial movement of the ring away from its seating on thecasing can be effected without imparting movement to the disc.

In the accompanying drawings FIGURE 1 is an end view illustrating oneexample of the invention, while FIGURES 2 and 3 respectively aresections on the lines 22, 33 in FIGURE 1.

Referring to the drawings there is provided a cylindrical casing 4 whichat its inner end is connected to an inlet 5 in the front wall of afurnace, steam generating plant, or the like. The outer end of thecasing 4 is splayed to extend at right angles to the axis of the casing.Moreover, surrounding the casing is an air chest having an outer wallwhich is spaced from the outer end of the casing to define therebetweenan air inlet 6.

The air chest (only part of which is shown) may be common to a pluralityof apparatus in accordance with the invention, in which case itsurrounds a plurality of casings, but preferably the part of the outerwall of the air chest opposite the, or each, casing, is formed as shownas a separate detachable plate 7. In this plate 7 is secured a tube 8which is axially aligned with the casing 4, whilst through the fixedtube extends a burner tube 9 carrying a swirler 10 surrounding theburner nozzle 11. The burner tube 9 can be moved axially between anoperative position, shown in full lines in FIGURE 2, in which theswirler 10 and nozzle 11 are located within the inlet 5, and aninoperative position shown in broken lines in FIGURE 2 in which theswirler 10 and nozzle 11 are located within the outer end of the casing4. Furthermore, the outer end of the burner tube 9 at the outer side ofthe plate 7 is connected to a fuel supply pipe 12 by means which willpermit of its disconnection only when the burner is in the inoperativeposition.

Surrounding the tube 8 is an axially movable and annular valve disc 13carrying rollers 14 adapted to ride on the periphery of the tube 8. Thedisc 13 is closely surrounded by a short cylindrical ring 15 having aninternal flange 16 at its outer end adapted to engage the disc 13. Thering 15 is permitted limited axial movement rela- "ice tive to the disc13 Whilst still surrounding the latter, and is movable axially between aposition shown in full lines in FIGURE 2 (hereinafter termed the closedposition) in which it bears against the outer end of the casing 4, and afully open position (shown in broken lines in FIG- URE 2) in which itbears against the inner side of the which limit the relative movementbetween the ring 15' and disc 13 in one direction. The arrangement issuch that when the ring 15 is in the closed position, the disc 13 isspaced from the abutrnents 20 and is urged against an abutment collar 21on the fixed tube by pressure in the air chest. Thus the initialmovement of the spindles 17 in a direction to move the ring 15 to theopen position will not impart movement to the disc 13, but will merelyopen an annular gap between the ring 15 and the outer end of the casing4 to break the initial air seal. This feature enables the ready openingof the air inlet even when the difference in pressure between the airchest and the combustion chamber is considerable.

The outer end of each spindle 17 is provided with a handle 22 which isoffset relative to the axis of the spindle so that the combustion spacecan be viewed through a transparent or translucent Window 23 at theouter end of the spindle 17. Moreover, the window 23 of one or bothspindles 17 is detachable to admit the insertion of an ignition torchthrough the spindle, a pair of pins (not shown) being provided in thehandle 22 to actuate a valve and an electric circuit of the torchrespectively.

The bushes 18 in the plate 7 are externally screwthreaded at the outerside of the plate 7, and engaged therewith are screw-threaded collars 24whereby the spindles 17 can be clamped at any desired axial setting.

In addition to the windows on the spindles 17, a further window 25 maybe provided in the plate. This window is aligned with an aperture in thedisc 13 which is normally closed by a pivoted shutter 26. The shutter26, however, can be opened by manually operated means, or, as shown,automatically by a projection 27 on the plate 7 when the ring 15 ismoved to the fully open position so as to provide an unobstructed viewof the furnace or like chamber.

Having thus described our invention what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. Liquid fuel burning apparatus for connection to a combustion chamber,comprising a cylindrical casing, an air chest surrounding said casingand having an outer wall spaced from the outer end of the casing todefine an air inlet therebetween, a fixed tube secured to said outerwall and extending to a position adjacent said outer end of the casing,a burner tube slidably mounted in said fixed tube and extendingtherefrom axially through the casing, means for moving the burner tubeaxially within the fixed tube between an operative position and aninoperative position, an annular disc surrounding said fixed tube andaxially slidable on the exterior thereof, a spindle, means mounting saidspindle on said outer wall for sliding movement in a direction parallelto said fixed tube, the inner end of said spindle extending through ahole in the annular disc, an abutment at the inner end of the spindle,said abutment engaging the disc when the abutment is moved towards theouter wall so as to move the disc towards the outer wall, an annularring closely surrounding the periphery of the disc, means securing saidring to the spindle, an inwardly directed flange at the edge of the ringengageable with said disc to move the disc towards the casing when thering is moved towards the casing by means of the spindle, movement ofsaid spindle towards the casing being halted by said ring engaging thecasing and forming with the disc an air-tight seal between the interiorof the casing and the air chest, and a stop on the fixed tube limitingmovement of the disc towards the casing to a position in which the discis spaced from said abutment, whereby movement of the spindle away fromthe casing serves to move the ring to break said air seal before thedisc is moved.

2. Liquid fuel burning apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which saidspindle is hollow, the end of the spindle remote from the casing beingprovided with a handle which is offset relative to the axis of thespindle whereby the casing can be viewed through the spindle.

3. Liquid fuel burning apparatus as claimed in claim 1 including meansfor'clarnping the spindle at any desired axial setting.

4. Liquid fuel burning apparatus as claimed in claim 1 including anaperture in said disc, a pivotal shutter closing said aperture, a windowin said outer Wall in alignment with the aperture, and a projection onsaid outer 5 wall engageable with the shutter to open the aperture whenthe disc is moved towards said outer wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,132,808 Tuttle Mar. 23, 1915 1,349,562 Curry Aug. 17, 1920 1,844,315Forney Feb. 9, 1932 2,464,698 Logan Mar. 15, 1949 15 2,757,721 Reed etal Aug. 7, 1956 3,067,808 Poole Dec. 11, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 455,411Germany Jan. 31, 1928

1. LIQUID FUEL BURNING APPARATUS FOR CONNECTION TO A COMBUSTION CHAMBER,COMPRISING A CYLINDRICAL CASING, AN AIR CHEST SURROUNDING SAID CASINGAND HAVING AN OUTER WALL SPACED FROM THE OUTER END OF THE CASING TODEFINE AN AIR INLET THEREBETWEEN, A FIXED TUBE SECURED TO SAID OUTERWALL AND EXTENDING TO A POSITION ADJACENT SAID OUTER END OF THE CASING,A BURNER TUBE SLIDABLY MOUNTED IN SAID FIXED TUBE AND EXTENDINGTHEREFROM AXIALLY THROUGH THE CASING, MEANS FOR MOVING THE BURNER TUBEAXIALLY WITHIN THE FIXED TUBE BETWEEN AN OPERATIVE POSITION AND ANINOPERATIVE POSITION, AN ANNULAR DISC SURROUNDING SAID FIXED TUBE ANDAXIALLY SLIDABLE ON THE EXTERIOR THEREOF, A SPINDLE, MEANS MOUNTING SAIDSPINDLE ON SAID OUTER WALL FOR SLIDING MOVEMENT IN A DIRECTION PARALLELTO SAID FIXED TUBE, THE INNER END OF SAID SPINDLE EXTENDING THROUGH AHOLE IN THE ANNULAR DISC, AN ABUTMENT AT THE INNER END OF THE SPINDLE,SAID ABUTMENT ENGAGING THE DISC WHEN THE ABUTMENT IS MOVED TOWARDS THEOUTER WALL SO AS TO MOVE THE DISC TOWARDS THE OUTER WALL, AN ANNULARRING CLOSELY SURROUNDING THE PERIPHERY OF THE DISC, MEANS SECURING SAIDRING TO THE SPINDLE, AN INWARDLY DIRECTED FLANGE AT THE EDGE OF THE RINGENGAGEABLE WITH SAID DISC TO MOVE THE DISC TOWARDS THE CASING WHEN THERING IS MOVED TOWARDS THE CASING BY MEANS OF THE SPINDLE, MOVEMENT OFSAID SPINDLE TOWARDS THE CASING BEING HALTED BY SAID RING ENGAGING THECASING AND FORMING WITH THE DISC AN AIR-TIGHT SEAL BETWEEN THE INTERIOROF THE CASING AND THE AIR CHEST, AND A STOP ON THE FIXED TUBE LIMITINGMOVEMENT OF THE DISC TOWARDS THE CASING TO A POSITION IN WHICH THE DISCIS SPACED FROM SAID ABUTMENT, WHEREBY MOVEMENT OF THE SPINDLE AWAY FROMTHE CASING SERVES TO MOVE THE RING TO BREAK SAID AIR SEAL BEFORE THEDISC IS MOVED.